Security guard indicted in threats phoned to 911

A Chicago security guard who allegedly made phone threats involving the Sears Tower shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York was indicted by a Cook County grand jury Tuesday.

Roger Ryan, 29, of West Madison Street, faces charges of felony disorderly conduct and making a false report of a bomb for allegedly calling in bogus threats and warnings to the city's 911 center. They included one in which he allegedly reported that a commercial plane was planning to crash into the Sears Tower.

According to police, Ryan reported that an airplane en route from Los Angeles was headed for the city's tallest building. Police later used cellular phone records to trace Ryan to his downtown apartment, where, according to police, he told detectives the calls were a prank.

Ryan was free on $90,000 bail.

On Sept. 28 the city sued Ryan, alleging that in the hours after the terrorist attacks he called in more than 20 false threats. Mayor Richard Daley has said the city aims to recover all the expenses incurred in responding to those threats.